Bedfellows Naughton, Stanton make it official

Photo by Jim Keyworth
John Stanton and chamber predecessor Tina Bruess decorate the chamber tree.  Stanton will be decorating the Roundup's tree next year - if he lasts that long.

By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Blog Editor

Longtime bedfellows John Stanton and John Naughton have consummated their relationship, jumping into bed together to try and improve a lackluster bottom line at the Payson Roundup.

While Stanton’s new role sounded vague on the Roundup’s front page Friday, the former head of the Rim Country Regional Chamber of Commerce will be charged with boosting advertising revenue.

Naughton, the Roundup’s publisher, has an advertising background, so the move seems curious to say the least.  In other words, Naughton should know better.  But then maybe the decision is a reflection of the paper’s desperation.  How long, after all, will WorldWest, the Kansas media conglomerate that owns the paper, continue to prop it up?

Naughton and Stanton have worked together for years in an alliance that the previous Roundup publisher, Richard Haddad, would never have allowed.  Haddad did not permit Roundup personnel to serve on the chamber board or to otherwise influence its operation.  Naughton has ignored that precedent, established in part to maintain the newspaper’s independence and objectivity.

Stanton, who loves to wave a small Swedish flag around and brag about his impartiality has for years allowed the Roundup to publish highly profitable supplements like the rodeo guide and visitor’s guide without soliciting bids.  Back when we were still publishing a print edition, The Rim Country Gazette newspaper frequently asked Stanton to be allowed to bid on the projects.  And yes, the Gazette was a chamber member.

During his years with the chamber, Stanton was generally perceived as an affable, harmless figurehead who did what he was told by a board that often included the town’s heavy hitters.  But this journalist has seen another side.

During a joint appearance several years ago on KMOG, Stanton came unglued over a Gazette article he didn’t like.  His face was so red, I was seriously concerned for his health.

So there is a side that Stanton mostly keeps under wraps, a side that, if it rears its ugly head, would not serve the Roundup well.  More likely, Stanton will maintain his affability, the Roundup’s bottom line will show little improvement, and the paper’s former standing as a quality, independent voice will continue its relentless slide into mediocrity and irrelevance. 

In other words, yet another front page Roundup story will end up being "much ado about nothing."